So the latest on our national circus clown act is that Trump apparently thinks POW's are losers.
Note to veterans, if you don't return home unscathed with hundreds of enemy scalps, the Donald doesn't really like you. He only likes "winners", so in his world John McCain is no hero..he was captured and therefore a loser.
I would have thought that ignoring the facts about Mexican immigrants and accusing their government of sending rapists and criminals here (to rape our white women) would have been enough to get him drummed out of the primaries and ignored as a buffoon by the voting public...
...but you can never really lose money betting on people's support for an inadequate white male flaunting an oversized ego, his inflated business acumen, and his self reported prowess with a multitude of beautiful women..even his daughter is open game for the Donald. People (or the press) don't even bother to uncover the facts regarding how he actually made his money, which is one wikipedia search away.
What I find so revolting about the fact that he is briefly the front runner is the sense that we are losing the battle to retain a sense of collective intelligence and wisdom, and ultimately, dignity.
The more someone like a Palin or a Trump is given actual legitimacy, the further we have moved from the dream that is America and move towards one that is a crueler and less worthy culture.
Education. Culture. Beauty. Art. Craftsmanship. Tradecraft. Honor. Integrity. Decency...we have a long list of words which are part of our collective set of ideals..the things we believe our country stands for. Ask yourself how well we have been applying these as a litmus test for those we choose to represent us. How proud are you of our government?
The fact that McCain though he had to run a Sarah Palin to whip up the crazies was the beginning..but the Donald is not the end. He's a middle act who will certainly not succeed, and thankfully this latest gaff will likely drive him out of significance...but his brief time in the spotlight, with a majority of Republican primary voters putting him in the lead is a harbinger of things to come...even more politics of personality versus those of reason, wisdom and informed intelligence.
Ignorance and the uninformed made fearful of the other, whipped to a frenzy by the propaganda which serves as news. The politics of division. All of these are the tools of petty despots pandering to monied interests with no regard or consideration to the world they would build.
The Donald is a clown playing with these tools.
The next demagogue may not be. He or she might be someone with a little more subtlety and political ability. Enough to win over the next tier of voter..and that thought scares the crap out of me. An America armed to the teeth, helmed by someone as unworthy as a Trump or a Palin. God help us all.
You remember how that was - Dick Cheney with a hand puppet.
A world where "the winners" take all, and the wounded and have-not "losers" are at best ignored and "unliked." Where there are only good people and evil people. Where diplomacy is for wusses and force is the default answer.
I still have hope, but as a friend of mine is fond of saying, "Hope is not a Strategy". Wish I had some ideas on that.
